Holding Eleanor's hand was like holding a butterfly. Or a heartbeat. Like holding something complete, and completely alive.

The simile layers delicacy (“butterfly”) with intimacy and necessity (“heartbeat”), suggesting a love that is both fragile and essential. Holding Eleanor’s hand becomes an encounter with life itself—something that can be harmed by pressure yet is irresistibly real. The final clause (“something complete, and completely alive”) frames Eleanor not as an idealized object but as a whole person whose vitality is felt through touch. The line captures the paradox of first love: awe at another’s aliveness, fear of breaking what you cherish, and the sense that a simple gesture can contain an entire world of feeling.